Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct the misidentification of Drew Jones.

ROCKFORD — From volleyball players to golfers to cheerleaders, dozens of Jefferson athletes lined up with parents and grandparents to walk down the track for senior night this past Friday.

Included in the group was a handful of football seniors in a moment that was more awkward than celebratory.

Instead of being honored before the last home varsity game, they were taking the walk before the start of the sophomore game between Jefferson and Harlem. School officials chose to forfeit Jefferson's final three varsity football games because so many players quit they didn't want to field a team made up mostly of sophomores. Tonight would have been the season finale at Belvidere North.

"This is embarrassing," said Termaine Richardson, a wide receiver and defensive back. "This has never happened at Jefferson."

It's worse than that. While there have been several forfeits over the years because of teachers strikes and the 1918 season was canceled because of a deadly flu epidemic, it's believed to be the first time in NIC-10 history that a school couldn't field a team because of a lack of players.

None of the players who walked the track last Friday shed much light on why players stopped wanting to play.

"I'm not one of the ones who quit," Richardson said. "I don't know why they quit."

Drew Jones, an offensive and defensive lineman, said it was a "lack of leadership."

"We didn't have any leaders this year."

Players said it was never a happy team. There were disagreements among players and the coaching staff from the beginning of training camp. Still, few imagined the season would end before the season was supposed to end.

"I've been with a lot of these guys since freshman year and they just walked off," said Victor Tellez, a running back and linebacker. "It's hard to look a lot of guys in the face right now."

In 2001, Auburn featured a team that scored 34 total points and gave up 470, but the Knights still showed up to play every week. Harlem tied a state record for losses with 47 in a row from 1988 through 1993, but the Huskies always managed to put a team on the field.

According to a roster sent to the Register Star at the start of the season, Jefferson, a school of about 1,800 students, entered 2013 with 28 players. That included 16 seniors for coach Patrick Babcock's second season. The J-Hawks went 2-7 in 2012 for the former University of Illinois offensive lineman.

The J-Hawks struggled in 2013 from the outset, getting blown out by Guilford and Belvidere in the first two games. In the third week, The J-Hawks blew a second half lead to lose to Freeport, 35-28, and then two weeks later Jefferson was in front of East 33-14 in the second half only to fall 35-33.

Page 2 of 2 - The next week, Jefferson had just 23 players — including several sophomores moved up to field a team — to play Hononegah. The Indians scored a school-record 70 points.

Following that loss, even more players dropped off the team and officials said they did not want to put younger players at risk against Boylan.

So instead of ending their careers on the field, nine Jefferson football seniors were left to end their football careers on the track.